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Western New York's Premier Division II Team
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vb all-ecc 2018

Wildcats Rake In All-Conference Awards

| By: By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

Three Selected To All-Conference Teams, Albano Named Coach of the Year, McCaffrey Named Co-Setter of the Year

AMHERST, N.Y. - Three members of the Daemen College women's volleyball team have earned All-East Coast Conference recognition, and Daemen personnel claimed two of the league's major awards for the 2018 season today. Head coach Stephanie Albano has been named the ECC Coach of the Year, and freshman Isa McCaffrey (North Royalton, Ohio) was selected as the ECC Co-Setter of the Year, as well as earning first team All-ECC honors. McCaffrey was joined on the All-ECC first team by sophomore middle hitter Tirzah Peters (Amherst, N.Y.), while junior outside hitter/middle hitter Meghan Ballou (Eden, N.Y.) was named to the All-ECC second team. The official announcement of ECC awards and all-conference teams was made this afternoon at the ECC Championship luncheon held in the Charles J. Wick Center Social Room on Daemen's campus, followed by a press release from the conference office.

Albano claims Coach of the Year honors for the second time in her three-year tenure. She previously earned the honor for the 2016 season when she led the Wildcats to 25 wins, the ECC regular season title and the program's first-ever NCAA tournament berth. She also earned East Region Coach of the Year honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association that season. Like in 2016, Albano has guided Daemen to a 13-1 record in ECC play, resulting in another regular season crown this season. She has her team positioned as the No. 1 seed in this weekend's ECC Championship, and as the No. 3 ranked team in the official NCAA Division II East Region poll.

In the last three seasons, Albano has led Daemen to a 55-34 overall record and a 33-9 mark in ECC play. The former University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill setter came to Daemen after assistant coaching stops at Canisius College, Medaille College and the University at Buffalo.

Albano has leaned heavily on McCaffrey to run the show offensively in her rookie campaign. The Ohio native has responded by quarterbacking a balanced Daemen offense that features six players averaging better than 2.0 kills per set. McCaffrey leads the ECC in total assists (1,048), and ranks second in assists per set (10.17). Only McCaffrey and her fellow Co-Setter of the Year honoree, Molloy College's Sophia Smith, are averaging better than 10.0 assists per set among all ECC setters this season. She recorded her 1,000th assist in a 3-0 win over Molloy on Oct. 27, becoming just the seventh player in team history to reach the milestone in a single season. 

McCaffrey has recorded at least 30 assists in 22 of the team's 29 matches so far this season; four times she's topped 50 assists, including a career-best 56 in a four-set win over Long Island University Post on Sept. 22. McCaffrey has earned ECC weekly accolades seven times this season. She was named ECC Rookie of the Week for Aug. 27-Sept. 2, Oct. 1-7 and Oct. 22-28, and was named ECC Setter of the Week for Sept. 3-9, Sept. 10-16, Sept. 17-23 and Sept. 24-30.

One of McCaffrey's favorite targets this season has been Peters who has arguably established herself as the ECC's most improved player. After being slowed by injuries and appearing in just 16 matches as a freshman, Peters has been a consistent force in 2018. Appearing in all 29 matches, while making 28 starts, she has racked up a team-high 254 kills and is averaging 2.62 kills per set on a .296 hitting percentage. She presently ranks eighth in total kills, ninth in kills in per set and fourth in hitting percentage among the ECC leaders. Among the 16 ECC players with more than 200 kills this season, Peters is one of two to do so wth above a .290 hitting percentage. She has also contributed at the net defensively, totaling a team-high 54 blocks which ranks 11th in the league. 

With Peters patrolling the middle, Ballou has been able to set up shop on the outside where she's totaled 246 kills and averaged 2.67 kills per set. She's been the Wildcats' most frequently used hitter, launching 699 attacks at opposing defenses this season. She ranks among the ECC's top 10 in kills (ninth), kills per set (eighth) and total attacks (seventh). Ballou enters conference tournament play having reached double-figure kills in 11 of her last 17 matches. 

Ballou, who also earned second team All-ECC honors in 2017, has appeared in 88 matches over the last three seasons. In that time, she's totaled 727 kills, 452 digs and 112 blocks. 

Additional ECC major award winners announced today included Player of the Year (Tiffany Verni, NYIT), Libero of the Year (Jamie Yonker, NYIT) and Rookie of the Year (Jamie Yonker, NYIT). 

Daemen's all-conference honorees lead the Wildcats into postseason action tonight. The top-seeded Wildcats host fourth-seeded University of Bridgeport in the first of two ECC Championship semifinals tonight at Lumsden Gymnasium with match time slated for 6 p.m.

For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.




 

 
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